Composer, and Producer for BBC Radio 3 and 4, Luke Whitlock writes music in many genres including for the concert hall, and television soundtracks, and has previously worked for Hollywood as an orchestrator. Music has been a passion from his early years, which were surrounded by many different types of music including jazz, rock, and classical styles. More recent inspirations include the composer and mentor Andrew Downes, Peter Reynolds, and Paul Mealor who Luke currently works with at doctoral level.

Born in Devon 1978, singing in various choirs and choral projects from the age of 3, and learning the piano and clarinet from the age of 6, Luke went on to continue his education at Teignmouth Community College in the same academic year as Matthew Bellamy and Dominic Howard from the rock band MUSE. He graduated with honours in music from Dartington College of Arts in 2000, where he spent much of his time performing the music of the minimalists Steve Reich and Philip Glass, among many others. The beautiful and ever changing Devon countryside has provided stimulus for many of his works to date, including his seminal ensemble work Early Evening, and Flowing Waters which was featured on his debut CD released in 2015.

After Dartington he completed a Masters degree in Composition for the Screen at one of the World’s leading conservatoires, the Royal College of Music, where his fellow postgraduate students included the soprano Elizabeth Watts, and the bass Jonathan Lemalu. His tutor there was the internationally renowned Joseph Horovitz. Following this he worked for the RCM for a number of years, appointed by Dame Janet Ritterman to artistically programme and manage over one hundred yearly chamber events, which involved collaborating with many new rising artistic talents.

Luke continued to compose much music, including a collaboration with Brass10, one of the UK’s leading brass ensembles who commissioned him in 2003 to compose Evening Shades Opus 4/1. This work for brass dectet and organ has not only received a number of performances within the UK, but has also been broadcast, televised, and published by Kirklees. Luke also collaborated for a second time with the animator Mark Collington on Alphabetic: The A – Z of Birth in 2006, having previously worked together on the animation West Pier, which depicts through image and sound the history of Brighton’s once famous landmark. Their first collaboration in 2001 received notable success, travelling from festival to festival including destinations such as France, Spain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

In 2005 Luke graduated from the University of Plymouth with a postgraduate certificate in education, teaching music at post compulsory education level. Since 2007 he has lived in Cardiff where he works for the BBC, producing Radio 3 programmes such as The Choir, Composer of the Week, Discovering Music, Opera on 3, Live in Concert, and also one-off features for BBC Radio 4. Through this work he has collaborated with many familiar household names, including the film composer Debbie Wiseman, legendary lyricist Don Black, singer and media celebrity Aled Jones, to name but a few. He has also taught music on a freelance basis for the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, and he tutors piano and music theory privately, whilst also continuing his freelance activities as a composer. More recently his music has featured regularly on ABC Classic FM in Australia, and various BBC radio programmes, and he has received a number of performance premiers in the USA and UK as well.